RV Investigator skidding time-lapse

By January 15th, 2015

The 93.9 metre research vessel, which weighs 6,082 ton, was moved from the wharf to a barge using a hydraulic system, and then towed to a dock, where the barge was submerged, leaving the vessel floating.

Australia’s new Marine National Facility research vessel, Investigator, has been skidded from the wharf at the Sembawang Shipyard, in Singapore, into the water.

The 93.9 metre research vessel, which weighs 6,082 ton, was moved from the wharf to a barge using a hydraulic system, and then towed to a dock, where the barge was submerged, leaving the vessel floating. The skidding took several days, as the hydraulic system used to move the ship across the wharf only moves at a snail’s pace, taking minutes to move just millimeters.